Delighted to make the shortlist for the Sidekick Books Secret Service poetry call. 🤗 Received a super tough rejection the same day, so this made all the difference.
@TheBluetones@TheQuill I hadn’t heard @TheBluetones classic, Slight Return for about 30 years until recently, it popped up on Spotify in my car, which gave me a such lump in my throat. was a 20 yr old student again in my flat. Great gig in #Waterford Mark Morris’s voice hasn’t changed a bit👏🏻👏🏻
13 June 1977. Matthew Garber died (aged 21) from Pancreatitis complications. He was best known for playing Michael Banks in Mary Poppins. Other films include The Three Lives of Thomasina and The Gnome-Mobile.
“My ambition for mankind is that wherever we go we do not totally destroy ourselves on the way. If we fail in this, it will be on account of our strength. Man today is too powerful: he can inflict too much damage.” ~C.R.Milne
‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.’
- For my great-grandfather James Kavanagh, who died 111 years ago today in the Great War. 🇫🇷
On this day in 1937, Jean Harlow died aged 26 from kidney failure, mid-shoot on her final film. In just 7 years, she went from uncredited extra to Hollywood's biggest female star.
Seen here with director Jack Conway and Clark Gable, taken days before her collapse.
Remembering the original Blonde Bombshell, talented actress Jean Harlow who dotd in 1937 of kidney failure, she was only 26. I have this beautiful picture of Jean actually signed by her overprotective mother Mama Jean who used to sign most of Jean's pictures. RIP Jean Harlow🖤
John Deacon retired from music in 1997. He doesn't speak to his bandmates directly. And in June 2024 — he had his own lawyer at the table for the $1.27 billion Sony deal — the biggest music rights sale in history. Still silent. Still equal. Still there.
John Deacon retired from music in 1997.
He has not performed since. He does not speak to his bandmates directly. He communicates through management. Through accountants. Through lawyers.
And he is still worth — by most estimates — approximately $170 million.
Because John Deacon never stopped being an equal shareholder in everything Queen has ever built.
Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and the estate of Freddie Mercury are equal shareholders in Queen Productions Ltd — the company that owns and controls Queen's entire musical legacy.
Equal. All four. Permanently.
Billboard estimated Queen earns approximately $50 million annually from recorded music and publishing combined.
John Deacon's equal quarter share — arriving every year — from music he stopped making nearly three decades ago.
Then in June 2024 — the biggest music rights deal in history was announced.
Sony Music acquired Queen's catalog for $1.27 billion — the largest music rights sale ever recorded. Surpassing Bruce Springsteen's previous record of $500 million.
Sources confirmed that each band member — Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and the estate of Freddie Mercury — had their own individual lawyer involved in negotiating the deal.
John Deacon — who won't answer his bandmates' calls — had his own lawyer at the table.
For the biggest music deal in history.
His share of $1.27 billion.
Collected in the same complete silence in which he has lived his entire post-Queen life.
The man who walked away from everything in 1997 — was still there for all of it.
Quietly. Permanently. On his own terms.
@guywalters@MrJamesMay A simpler book for simpler times. When my father was a young man, he bought a car with my Granny and my Uncle Tony. Between the three of them, they learned to drive because there were hardly any cars on the road back then.
“Under the oak tree, whose leaves are now fully expanded, cows are resting in the shade”
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL Grant Watson
(What to Look for in Summer, 1960)
Tom Petty performed all 53 shows of his 2017 tour while suffering from a fractured hip, pushing through the pain rather than canceling dates. Just one week after the tour’s final concert, he died at the age of 66.
This final chapter of Tom Petty’s life highlighted the determination that defined his career. Despite performing with a fractured hip and enduring severe pain, he remained committed to finishing the Heartbreakers’ 40th-anniversary tour in 2017, honoring both his bandmates and the fans who had supported him for decades.
The tour ultimately became his last run of live performances, concluding just a week before his death at 66. Over a career spanning more than forty years, Petty built a legacy through timeless songs, distinctive songwriting, and an unpretentious style that earned him lasting respect and continues to connect with listeners worldwide.